"Tri. Where did you get this armor?" He turned and gave Amber a sideways glance, trying, yet failing to hid the annoyance on his face.
"From Vaira. She had some left-over armor and she said I could use it for scrap."
"Oh really, is that the lie you're telling yourself. Alright then."
"Amber, I've told you hundreds of times, there is nothing between us. We're simply friends."
"Whatever spark pluck. Whatever gets your current flowing."
She smirked, earning a growl from the Exo. Shepard glanced over her shoulder at him, and he turned to face her. Despite his angry expression, Shepard couldn't stop an amused grin from spreading across her face. Her smartassness was starting to show again.
"So, you have a girl Tri?"
This earned her a glare from him, followed by a yank on the connecting strap on her back, resulting in it growing painfully tight. She held in a pained yelp.
"Shutting up."
He loosened the strap back up before speaking. "As I said. We're friends. However, Amber likes to think since she's the only female Exo I ever hang out with means that we're dating. Which is just stupid."
"Well, whatever the case, thanks for the armor." Tri attached the final metal shoulder pad in place before patting Shepard's back.
"It's no trouble at all. Like I said, I was planning on scrapping this. But this is a far better use for it if you ask me."
Shepard nodded, then turned to face Tri, admiring her armor. The armor was colored a glossy white, with red accents surrounding her joints, and with a black under suit. It was a little bulkier than her N7 armor, but it felt just as light, and even more maneuverable. Tri had told her it was standard Titan's gear, saying he could tell by her behavior that she most likely fit a titans methodology of combat. She was still a bit fuzzy on the differences of guardians. But, from her understanding, titans were front line warriors who lead from the front. A perfect match for her.
Glancing up from her armor, Shepard saw Tri holding out a helmet for her. It was the same color as her armor, and had a large black visor which covered the entire top of her head and the front of her face. However, it looked like it was made of metal, not glass. Curious.
She slipped it on, and immediately the inside lit up with light, a display screen appearing, allowing her to see through the helmet. A HUD appeared on the screen as well, showing her shield level, her ammo count and weapon type, as well as a radar system. She smirked within her helmet.
"This is sweet."
Tri chuckled. "Glad you like it. However, since you don't have a ghost, some of your systems will be more difficult to maintain. Until we figure out how to fix this, I'll let my ghost Sparks help you out."
He held out his hand and his ghost appeared. However, this one looked quite different from the one she had seen before. He had a bulkier orange shell, with black metal straps bolted to the two side panels, two blue lights glowing from between the bolts. Navy blue strips also ran down the points of the ghost, and its eye was a deep blue as well. It examined her closely , circling her like a drill instructor. Suddenly, it flew straight at her before vanishing, startling Shepard slightly.
"Don't panic, I'm inside your helmet. I'm just going to boot up all your systems, connect you with our Fireteam comms, and…. Huh?"
Shepard rose a brow. "What is it?"
"I'm detecting another connection point, almost like a computer."
"Oh um. Could you transfer all the suit controls to that please?"
"Why? I'm not even sure it's supposed to be in here."
"Please Sparks, it'll help my suit run better."
He sighed. "Fine. Transferring systems over now. But I'm not being held responsible if anything goes wrong."
Shepard glanced down at her right arm, her omni-tool brightening up as the suit commands were transferred to it, granting her easy access. She smirked, glancing up as Sparks reappeared. She quickly shut her omni-tool off before he saw it.
"Thanks Sparks." He glanced at her before nodding and flying back towards Tri, who was approaching her with an orange auto rifle in his hand.
"Here. Take this."
She took the rifle, giving it a small spin in her hands as she examined either side. A solid weapon. Well balanced and sturdy. But it was bulkier than the weapons from home and didn't collapse into a more compact shape. Strange when she thought about it; weapons that didn't compact themselves? Seemed almost archaic. Despite this, she was still incredibly grateful for the weapon.
"Don't forget to tap the box on your hip if you need ammo, and try not to drop the cartridges. It makes combat a lot more dangerous if you're scrambling to reload your gun."
She nodded at his advice, placing the rifle on her back where magnetic seals engaged, holding it firmly in place.
"How good are you with shotguns?"
Shepard brightened up with that comment. "Pretty good. I normally like to carry one with me."
Tri nodded, holding out his hand again as a shotgun materialized within it. A second black box, this one with a green sheen on it, was in his other hand.
"Then take this. And be sure to only use this ammo in it."
She took the shotgun and the box, clipping the shotgun onto her back and the box to her hip, below the first one. She noticed how her HUD automatically changed to match the weapons she now carried, along with displaying the ammo she carried. This was too cool.
Her attention was then drawn back to Tri, who now had a helmet over his head. It looked almost like a futuristic Roman helmet. A large fan of black and white feathers stuck up from the back of the helmet, curving with the shape of his head. Two large blue plates covered his face, and a pink light was glowing from between the plates in the front. He was holding a rifle in his hands, and a larger, more powerful looking shotgun was on his back. Beside him, Amber stood, her armor fully equipped once more, and her rifle in her hands. Then, they all vanished in a flash of light.
For the second time, Shepard found herself bathed in blue light as she teleported from the ship. However, unlike last time, she was fully able to appreciate the action. A rush of excitement filled her with the tingling, soon replaced with a cool satisfaction as she felt her boots strike the earth. As the light faded, she could finally see the barren landscape before them. She was on Tri's left while Amber was in her right, all three warriors prepare for anything.
Tri lifted his rifle as soon as they touched the ground. The Cosmodrome spread out before them, its low rusted buildings covered in snow, and its few plants lazily shuddering in the cold breeze. It was nighttime, and the moon shone upon the landscape, turning it white. After a quick sweep, Tri lowered his rifle, then turned back to face the women behind him.
"Amber. Mount up and stay close. Shepard, you'll be riding with me."
She tilted her head at him. "Riding?" In answer to her question, a spindly vehicle like a long motorcycle, but without wheels, materialized under him. Shepard stared at it in surprise and mild shock. It thrummed loudly, a low purr that was again like a motorcycle. Its frame glowed with white energy and seemed to pulse in tune with the engines rumbles. And it was hovering! A good 3 feet above the ground, smooth and balanced as if it was lying on a table. Shepard couldn't hold back a smile of astonishment.
"Ok. That is pretty cool." Tri gestured for her to hop onto the back. Carefully, she did so, wrapping her arms around his chest for lack of a better hold, and squeezed onto the small seat. Next to them, Amber sat on her own floating vehicle, identical to Tri's save for a yellow, burning sun painted on its side. Then, they took off towards the horizon. Towards a new adventure.
"I thought you said this would be easy?"
"It will be."
"You call infiltrating a primary Devil's lair easy?"
Tri knelt beside Amber, who was lying prone on the ground, her face to the scope of her Dead Orbit sniper rifle. Behind them, Shepard was kneeling down, staying low so she would be out of sight. Below them, a large set of buildings lay on the valley floor. A massive complex consisting of multiple warehouses and a factory building. From the distance, one could easily make out the large House of Devils banners that hung from the sides of the buildings, along with dozens of vandal guards pacing on the rooftops and by the doors. Several Skiffs could be seen filling a courtyard, and a team of pikes had just come in, parking themselves inside on the open warehouses. The only thing missing from the picture was walkers, but those were certainly here somewhere.
"Alright. So, it's a larger facility than I expected, but we can handle this. We've been through worse." Amber turned to glance a Tri, most likely giving him an "oh really" look. Tri ignored her.
"Just keep an eye on those pikes. Tell me if they move, and wait for my signal."
Amber grunted out a response, which was apparently enough for Tri. Standing up, he slipped over the lip of the hill and began sliding down.
Shepard gave Amber one last glance before shrugging, sliding down the hill after Tri. She followed close behind him, moving carefully down the hill and hiding behind boulders whenever they stopped. After about 60 yards, they came to a stop behind a large boulder that sat at the bottom of the hill. With their backs placed against boulder, they slowly glanced around its edge to gauge the facility ahead.
About 50 yards away, the first of the warehouses stood, its door open. A single vandal, wire rifle in hand, stood by the door, looking incredibly bored. As far as it seemed, he was the only guard at this location currently.
"So. What's the plan."
Tri glanced back a Shepard and she stared back at him, waiting patiently. He then pointed around the boulder.
"Amber is going to pick off the roof guards first. After that, I'll run up and handle that guard." He gestured towards the vandal by the door before turning back to Shepard.
"I want you to stay here till I handle him."
Shepard frowned, a little disappointed she had to wait, but she nodded. She wasn't going to question him. He was the expert after all. Tri turned, facing the facility again as he placed a finger on the side of his helmet.
"Alright Amber. Knock them down."
Shepard glanced up, expecting the shots. However, all she could make out was a faint sliver of white, zipping by in an instant. No gunshot, no vapor trail. This happened once, twice, then three times. Finally, a fourth zipped by, resulting in a guard, who must have been standing on the roof just out of sight, fell from above and crumbled on the ground. The body landed right next to the guard by the door, causing him to jump in surprise. However, he had no time to react to the body. As soon as it had fallen from the roof, Tri took off running straight towards the guard.
Shepard watched in amazement as Tri sprinted with incredible speed towards the guard, covering the full distance in seconds before tackling him to the ground just as he turned around. Before he could react, Tri raised a fist before smashing it into the vandal's head, causing it to crack open as blood spurted out from the shattered mouthpiece. It was dead before it could even fully process what was happening. Tri then rolled off the body to his knees before signaling Shepard to advance
Glancing from side to side, Shepard then took off in a low crouch, covering the distance quickly before sliding into the open doorway. Inside, Tri had dragged the two bodies into a corner, where he was now discreetly stacking them to hide them from view.
"I'd say you've got about ten minutes before someone notices the guards missing."
"Noted. Keep us informed if anything changes. And stay out of sight."
"Copy that."
Tri glanced at Shepard and she nodded, taking out her shotgun. He pulled out his auto rifle, and moved towards the door.
"Stay close, and don't shoot unless I say. Or if you're about to die." Shepard smirked at this, following close behind.
They moved down dark and rusted halls, sticking to the shadows. The facility was dark and dank; covering in rust and choked by cobwebs and debris. It was hard to tell what it had been originally. Perhaps a storage facility of some kind? Or perhaps a warehouse. Whatever it was, the feeling of walking through a long abandoned human building that was now full of aliens made Shepard's skin crawl. She'd felt like she was in one of the holofilms she watched when she was young. Wondering through a post-apocalyptic wasteland to fight foreign foes. All in all, a very exciting time.
Suddenly, Tri froze, his body going completely still as if he was frozen solid. Without warning, he suddenly shoved Shepard to the side, pushing her into a gap within the wall. This alarmed her, but she kept silent, remaining still as Tri held her against the wall. He then squeezed in himself, pressing himself almost uncomfortably close to her to fit within the small space. He must have heard something to cause this reaction. Then she heard it, a soft whirling sound, like a machine of some kind. The source of the sound then appeared.
A drone, about the size of a dog, flew down the hall slowly. It was box shaped, mostly, but two small discs were placed on its back corners, small flames erupting from the discs, showing they provided the drones propulsion. Small metal fins underneath steered the drone. The drone stopped, then slowly turned to face the wall they hid in. Three blue lights in the front lit up, looking like the eyes of a creature. A gun was attached underneath the drone, providing it with a means of defense. It slowly scanned the wall, the small gun twitching from side to side. Finally, after a few moments, the drone turned back around then continued down the hall, as if it had seen nothing.
After a few moments, Tri slowly pulled himself from the tight space, and glanced down the hall. Shepard glanced out as well.
"What was that?" She made sure to keep her voice low. Tri answered in a low voice.
"That was a shank. Small fallen drones that act as scouts and harassers. Their weak and not difficult to handle, but they will sound an alarm if they see us."
Shepard nodded with understanding, grateful for the explanation. They then moved down a few more corridors, sticking to the shadows. To her relief, no more shanks came their way.
Finally, Tri held up a fist, causing Shepard to stop. A chattering noise could be heard from a door ahead on their left, the same kind that Shepard had heard the day she'd waken up. Tri moved forward, then peaked around the doorway, looking inside.
Inside was an oval shaped room, filled with terminals, screens and communication pillars. Orange lights flickered on every panel and blue screens glowed, pulsing with streams of white text that scrolled across them. A low hum came from the pillars, buzzing and chattering as they intercepted and redirected dozens of signals. Three vandals worked on varies terminals; their four arms moving at frightful speeds as they entered in commands, transferred files and redirected protocols. For a race known as the Fallen, Shepard was impressed by their sophistication.
Tri studied the room carefully, his head shifting slightly from side to side. He then turned to Shepard and began signing basic signals to her. She was to slip in on the right, eliminating the Vandal there silently while he moved in on the left, doing the same with that one. They'd meet in the middle where they could hopefully eliminate the third without any fuss. She nodded in understanding, giving a thumbs up for added emphasis. Tri stared at her hand for a moment, as if confused, before shaking his head and slipping in to the left.
Shepard followed suit, moving in on the right. She stayed low, hiding behind cover whenever she could. A low shuffle and crack caused her to turn her head just in time to see Tri holding the Vandal in a chokehold. With a twist of his arm, the neck snapped and it went limp in his arms.
Picking up the pace, Shepard slunk forward, activating her Omni-blade about 5 feet away from the vandal. The four-armed creature didn't seem to notice, its focus entirely on the screen before it. Big mistake. With the skill and speed of an assassin, she closed the distance. At the last moment, she rose and plunged the blade into the alien's back, her other hand reaching around to grab its mouth and pull back, muffling any cry it might release. All she got was a soft grunt before the glow in its eyes faded and she took on its dead weight. Lighter than she would have guessed, which made it easy to slowly lower the body to the ground.
She turned to face the final enemy. It still hadn't glanced up yet. Good. Like a cat, she slide up towards the creature. She could barely make out Tri doing the same on the other end, their footfalls steadily growing louder. It must have been just enough, because the alien suddenly tensed and turned to face Shepard. Its blue eyes widened in a look of shock and fear, but Shepard didn't give it time to do anything else.
Using her momentum, she lashed out with a kick, her metal boot striking the vandal squarely in the throat. A pained gag sounded as it stumbled back, right into the approaching Tri. As if they had planned it, he grabbed the staggering alien and shoved it into the ground. His boot then followed, slamming down on the already damaged throat with a dull crunch. Moments later, the creature stopped struggling.
"Nicely done. I'm glad you were there to follow up on my kick."
"Likewise. You handled them very well."
Their voices were low, letting the buzz of the equipment cover any chance of detection. Tri then turned to the screens, glancing over them. He then lifted a hand as Spark materialized above it in a flash of light.
"Share the word Sparks."
The Ghost drifted over to the console and began zapping it with a beam of light. After a few seconds, his voice sounded in their helmets.
"It appears that the Fallen have come into contact with an unknown entity. Their bio-techs have been trying to identify it for hours but with no success."
"Hmmm. Is it Hive?"
Another short pause as the drone continued to scan the data.
"No. Not a Hive. Some kind of Blue human. Not an awoken. Not a guardian either. They honestly seem kind of spooked. They're attempting to contact their Kell even now."
Shepard's heart started racing. A blue skinned humanoid that isn't a human or awoken. There was one person that she knew that fit that exact description. And if she was here...
"Tri. We need to find this person. I think I know who it is."
He turned to her, regarding her for a moment before nodding. He turned back to Sparks, his voice taking in a more serious tone.
"Any idea where they're located Sparks?"
"I believe so, yes. However. There's a problem with that."
"That is?"
"They're on the far side of the complex. With at least 3 walkers, 6 platoons and who knows what other horrors they have hidden in here. We'll make it no more then 60 yards before we're discovered and most likely killed."
Shepard swore silently at that. She wasn't sure what Sparks meant by walkers, but his tone clearly hinted that it wasn't good. And that wasn't even taking the warriors into considerations. How were they going to get to her? She was suddenly pulled from her thinking as Tri spoke up.
"Well then. If there's too many enemies on the inside, then we'll just have to get them outside."
Shepard glanced at him, a concerned but quizzical look on her face.
"How?"
Instead of responding, Tri lifted his hand to his helmet before speaking into the air.
"Amber. I have a job for you."
Liara T'soni shifted in her sleep, then let out a weak groan. What was happening? Where was she? She tried to move, but her muscles ached and wouldn't respond. Even her breathing was labored.
She coughed, air finally filling her lungs again as her eyes cracked open. She was inside somewhere, an old room from the looks of it. She closed her eyes again, trying to clear her foggy head. What had happened? She couldn't remember a thing. This wasn't like her. Something must be amiss. She focused on her muscles, trying to get a response. Slowly, too slowly, feeling returned to her fingers and arms. Strange. Her muscles were sore, as if she had been in a fight and had lost horribly. That wasn't like her at all. She either won a fight, or didn't fight in the first place.
She exhaled, then sat up, gritting her teeth through the pain. It took her a couple tries, the first attempt stifled by a horrid pain shooting through her gut. But eventually, she made it. Once she had sat up, she placed a hand on her head, then opened her eyes, observing her surroundings.
She was sitting on a table in a small room full of metal crates and shelves stocked with boxes bearing unfamiliar labels. A storage room perhaps? Must be. It was old too. Rust and cobwebs covered the walls, and she could smell mold and decay in the air. Three flickering light fixtures casted pitiful light over the room, making the entire situation even more ominous. Where was she? Had she been kidnapped?
Unlikely. The only ones who would store a hostage in such a poorly kept room would be a Vorcha, and they'd rather eat you then take you alive. So then how had she gotten here? Her eyes fell upon a large doorway on the far side of the room. The door was closed, but she couldn't tell if it was locked. However, if it was, it looked weathered enough, so she'd have no problem breaking it open with her biotics. As gently as she could, she slid of the table.
However, upon touching the ground, pain shot up her legs, and they went out, resulting in her crumbling painfully to the ground. As she fell, one of her flailing legs kicked the table, causing it to noisily skid a few inches across the ground. She yelped in pain as her foot punished her for the kick. She clutched her leg close to her chest, her teeth gritted as she tried to ease the pain, cursing silently to herself. Her heart was racing from the pain and her mind was still foggy with confusion. Something truly terrible must have happened. She prayed that her friends were ok. They were together on a mission, last she could remember. Maybe they had...
She suddenly froze, her heart stopping as she heard a noise from behind her. A door opened with a creek, grinding against the floor before thudded against the wall noisily, rattling the metal.
Liara held her breath, trying not to panic. Heavy footsteps came towards her, walking the distance before stopping a few feet in behind of her. She heard a grunt, then some deep garbling that must be her captor's language. There was a pause, and she felt something give her shoulder a light shove. The garbling sounded again, it must be wanting her attention. Slowly, she glances over her shoulder to view her captor.
A slender humanoid form glared down at Liara, causing her breathe to catch in her throat. At first, she mistook it for a turian, but then dismissed that. This thing, whatever it was, had four arms dangling from its side, a far cry from the turians. Its wore a form fitting red and white suit that covered its entire body from head to toe. A red cape dangled from its shoulders, nearly reaching the floor, adding a sense of regality to the creature despite its fearsome look. However, it was the head that stood out the most to Liara.
A white helmet with downward curved horns covered its head, and out of it peered four glowing blue eyes. Liara instantly thought of the protheans, but this was no prothean at all. Whatever this thing was, I couldn't have her best interests in mind.
It glared down at her, gesturing towards her lazily with the gun it held in its upper pair of arms while still griping at her in its language. She glanced back down, avoiding its gaze and ignoring its words as her mind scrambled for options. Did she have her pistol? No. It was missing, no doubt taken whenever she was abducted, if that was indeed what had happened. Could she still us her biotics? They might have been able to repress them, but given the poor condition of her holding cell, she doubted they had access to such things.
She gritted her teeth, preparing herself. She'd have to act fast. Hopeful whatever this thing was wasn't prepared for biotics.
Quickly she sat up and thrust her hand forward, attempting to hurl a biotic blast straight at the alien's feet. The alien took a step back, flinching as if expecting an impact, but none came. Liara faltered, caught off guard by the lack of her biotics. The creature glanced down at her, as if confused. She focused harder, staring at her hand for a moment before closing her eyes, and thrusting it forward again.
However, once again, nothing happened. Liara opened her eyes and stared at her hands, confused beyond belief. What was going on? Why weren't her biotics working?
Hearing a cackling noise, she glanced up and saw the alien stepping towards her, its shoulders shaking as it laughed at her. It then lunged forward, grabbing her wrist and twisting it to the side. Liara screamed, her already sore body crying out in protest. It then twisted her arm to the side before leaning forward, its face now directly in front of Liara's. She recoiled backwards, grimacing from the pain and trying to stay clear of its fouls scent.
It was a mixture of filth, death, and a strange, reptilian smell. This perked her curiosity for a second before fear overtook her again as she saw it draw a knife from a sheathe on its chest. Its lower arms grabbed her sides, keeping her steady while the upper left arm held the knife up to her throat. With a crack of electricity, the blade was suddenly coated in glowing blue energy, throwing sparks that nearly singed Liara's face. It snarled at her and Liara closed her eyes, whimpering a prayer to the goddess that her death would be quick.
Amber glanced over the facility, analyzing the situation. She could see several guards, pacing the roofs. Some expensive looking boxes near the rear, some… She stopped, an ear-splitting boom breaking the silence. Glancing up, she spotted a Skiff flying in towards the facility. No doubt returning from patrol with several scouts. An idea suddenly formed in her head.
Leaping from the top of the hill, she allowed herself to slide down the slope, her rocket launcher appearing within her hands. A blue bolt suddenly zipped by her head, but she ignored it. They'd spotted her, but that was the idea. As she came to a stop about halfway down the hill, she turned, lifting her rocket launcher towards the skiff before pulling the trigger with a smooth motion.
The rocket screamed through the air, colliding with the Skiff's engine just as it passed over Amber's head. She dove to the ground, dodging a huge ball of flame and debris that erupted from the Skiff as its engine was blown to smithereens. The craft began spinning out of control, fire spewing from its back as it slowly descended from the sky before smashing into one of the buildings. An enormous explosion erupted from the facility, a pillar of fire and smoke rising into the air as the ground shook from the impact
Amber glanced up, a wicked smile spreading across her face as she watched the ball of fire slowly dissipate. An alarm suddenly began to blare, followed by the chattering shouts of angry fallen. She placed a finger on her helmet, now glowing from the orange firelight.
"How's that for a distraction?"
There was a moments pause before she heard a slightly impressed Tri on the other end.
"I think that will do perfectly."
She couldn't help but smile wider at that, even as wire rounds began wizzing over her head.
Liara was suddenly pulled back to reality by a distant explosion; the ground shaking underfoot as dust and debris rained down from the ceiling. For a moment, the alien seemed caught off guard, glancing behind it as it rattled out a phrase in its ugly tongue. Liara saw an opening, so she took it.
Without consideration for biology, she tried a trick from a holofilm she watched with Shepard once. The alien went rigid, it's eyes widening from the blow to its groin as Liara pulled her knee back and slammed it in again. She dropped from its hands, falling to the ground unceremoniously as the alien likewise dropped to its knees. Running on pure adrenaline, she snatched up the fallen knife from the ground and rammed it into the creature's neck.
It was an ugly stab, one a professional soldier would have scoffed at but Liara didn't care. A pained gurgle spurted from the creatures mouth along with purple blood, momentarily unsettling Liara before she stabbed it again, her mind too desperate to think of anything else. It's four arms groped at her, attempting to hold her back, but she was gone. Pain and fear had blinded her and she was now stabbing with reckless abandon. Before she knew it, it was on the ground, wheezing weakly as the light faded from its blue eyes.
Scrambling backwards, Liara put some distance between herself and the body as blood pooled up around her. She was trembling from head to foot, completely numb to the pain of her body that was screaming at her. It was only then, after she's sat there for a few moments breathing, that she heard the klaxon. A sharp, wailing alarm along with a static filled voice screaming in the same alien tongue she'd head moments before.
Whatever was happening, she was in danger. But how could she handle this. She was lost; separated from her friends in an unknown location with an unknown foe. She couldn't process this! There was no data to analyze, no plan she could make. Her voice came out weak and trembling as she called out to no one.
"What in the goddess' name is going on?"
Alarms blared loudly, splitting the air with their shrill scream. They were joined by shouting voices; aliens tongues screaming in outrage, anger and confusion. Shanks zipped around like flying dogs, circling their masters and zooming through doors with reckless abandon. Dregs rushed around at high speed, dodging between Captains and Vandals as they rushed to regain the glory they'd lost. Vandals charged in much more practiced precision, sticking in a rough formation as they moved in packs to the outer walls. Captains held up the rear, growling orders in deep voices as they shoved Dregs along and sent Vandals off to their designated posts. However, despite all the eyes that were rushing through the facility, not one managed to spy the two intruders slinking through the corridors.
Shepard couldn't help but be impressed by Tri. Despite being a machine dressed in bulky armor, he moved in incredible precision and stealth. Like a well oil machine, (wow Shepard), he checked corners, peered down corridors and slid through doorways as if he was created for this. And honestly, he probably was. Reminded her of Kaiden. A good man and a born soldier. She had no doubt him and Tri would get along nicely.
She was pulled from her thoughts suddenly when Tri held up a fist, signaling to stop. Acting fast, Shepard dropped to one knee, minimizing her profile as she pressed herself to the wall. After a moment of pause, Tru signaled for her to advance, and she did so without a sound.
Before them was, well, Shepard honestly couldn't quite place what the room was. Save for perhaps a throne room. It was wide, with a sloped floor that led up to a dais. On the back wall was a large chair, draped with animal furs and embroidered cloth. In front of the throne was a large table scattered with sheets of metal stamped with the same markings as the ones on the screens of the communication room. A large holographic display of the facility was projected in the air, covered in moving green dots, triangles and squares that were slowly converging on the single red dot on the facilities parameter. However, Shepard's eyes were quickly pulled from the display as she noticed the figures that stood around it.
There was a good mix of Vandals and Captains, all looking imposing and important as they worked over the table , chattering loudly to each other while interacting with the console. How they managed to do all this without getting tangled in their billowing red capes was beyond Shepard. However, she didn't pay attention to them for long. She was instead drawn to the larger figure that stood at the far side of the table.
At a glance, they seemed to be mostly the same as any other Fallen captain; a formidable four armed alien dressed in white armor with red accents and cloth features. However, this one was larger and wore a more advanced helmet with a large singular lens on one side, making it look like it only had 3 eyes. A large pack was on its back as well, sporting several antenna and tubes. Unlike the other captains, it stood erect, it's gaze shifting between the others as its arms were crossed behind its back.
"The big one there. That's a Baron. No doubt the head of this facility. We have the chance to cut the head off the snake right here."
Shepard eyed Tri, regarding him before turning back to the fallen. He had a point. Eliminating an enemies commander often resulted in chaos and confusion. But it would also take up valuable time and more importantly expose their position. Was it worth the risk? An idea suddenly occurred to her.
"Tri. What direction did Sparks say the prisoner was?"n
He looked at her, a bit confused. But after a moment, he gestured to the far side of the room where a door was.
"Through there. 50 meters then turn left. Fourth door down. Why?"
"You want to cut the head off the snake. I want to save the prisoner. Why not do both."
There was a pause, then Tri released a soft chuckle.
"I like your train of thought Shepard. Alright. I'll cause a scene to draw their fire and then you rush on by. Think you can handle that Civi?"
"I can handle anything you can tinny."
"Ha! I doubt that, but I'd love to see it! Good luck then."
Sparks' voice suddenly spoke in her helmet, much more serious than his guardian.
"Uploading the coordinates for the prison block now. Do be careful guardi...I mean soldier. The Fallen are not to be underestimated."
Their was a hint of caution in his voice, so Shepard made sure to nod in agreement.
"Copy that Sparky."
The ghost sighed at the name, but made no comment before vacating her helmet space. Tri then nodded at her before placing his weapon on his back, much to Shepard's surprise. What was he doing?
The Titan rubbed his hands together; like a cold beggar warming them by a flame. To Shepard's surprise, sparks of electricity began forming around his hands. And then, like a bullet, Tri shot forward with incredible speed. He was nothing but a blue and yellow blur streaking through the room with terrifying stomping steps. As one, all the Fallen glanced up at them. But they only had enough time to gasp or cry out in alarm before he leapt into the air, his entire body now engulfed in the blue electricity, before he then slammed down right in the middle of the table.
A flash of blue light erupted in the room, pulverizing the display table into burning fragments as bodies were catapulted into the air. Shepard stared in stunned amazement as several of the smaller bodies dissolved into blue mist before ever striking the ground. A few other were now prone, convulsing in spasms as electricity danced over their singed armor. Even the Baron was effected; staggering to its knees as it gripped its smoking head, its glowing eye lenses flickering like a busted television screen.
Shepard was momentarily stunned by the display of power before her. In some ways it reminded her of biotics, but in another way it was completely different. However, she didn't have time to admire her companion's handiwork. Her opening had arrived, and she took it. Taking off into a sprint, she rushed into the room and through the opposite door, slugging a staggering Fallen in the throat as she passed for good measure.
"Hold on Liara. I'm coming for you."
Authors Note: As you can see, the changes have ramped up. A more streamlined story with less chaff and more focse. Sadly, I don't know if l'll be able to continue. My life has gotten far busier and Destiny has advanced dramatically past when I started this. I dont even keep up with it anymore. I miss the simplier days of The Taken King. Oh well.
I hope youve enjoyed this story and i thank you for giving it a chance. Perhaps l'll be able to continue the simplified story. But until then. Embrace life! Love people! Serve God! And have a wonderful day! This is ZOMAN, signing off!